Greenhorn Park Raptors and Friends

ISO 400, 300mm, f/6.3, 1/1600sec

ISO 400, 300mm, f/6.3, 1/1600sec

My original intent when I headed over to Greenhorn Park this afternoon was to take some photographs of the snow landscapes.  I took a few scenery photographs with my 24-120mm lens when I suddenly noticed a bald eagle flying around the lake.

ISO 100, 24mm, f/4.0, 1/500sec

ISO 400, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/2000sec

Thought he was going to get this duck, but the duck dove under the water at the last second!

After about 30-45 minutes of taking photos of this bald eagle, he was joined by a friend the much larger golden eagle.

ISO 400, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/4000sec

ISO 400, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/1250sec

ISO 400, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/1000sec

I followed the bald eagle around the lake where he had landed on a telephone pole above the new bridge.  After I had taken a few photographs and walked up closer to him he turned and stared me down lol!

ISO 400, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/3200sec

After a couple of hours of standing on the east side of Greenhorn reservoir, I decided to leave the raptors and find some of the much more difficult birds to photograph.  The little finches, blue jays and woodpeckers are quick and flighty.  I find what works for me is to find a tree the birds like to frequent and then stand still in a good place to photograph.  It takes a lot of patience to stand still and wait for the birds to come to you, but I find it is more productive than walking around trying to catch them from tree to tree.

ISO 400, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/1250sec

ISO 400, 300mm, f/6.3, 1/2500sec

There is something about a bird in flight that I love to photograph.  It is more difficult to do, but it also looks really cool when you can get one in tight focus.

ISO 400, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/1250sec

ISO 400, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/1000sec

Nikon has been having a photography contest the last 4 months.  Each month has a different theme.  Last month was portraits, and this month’s theme is Zoom or telephoto lens photographs.  I would like to enter in a photograph and could use some input from you all on which one.  Please leave me a vote in the comment section below.  Thanks and as always enjoy the rest of the photographs.

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4 Comments

    • Thanks Colleen the woodpecker was fun to photograph. He was one of the few birds that stuck around for awhile while I photographed him. Most of the other little birds were very skittish.

    • Thanks Gayle! I love the action shot of the snow spraying as well. To be honest, I didn’t even realize I had caught a shot with him spraying the snow until I was looking at the pictures on the computer at home! That is why unless the photograph is obviously very out of focus I don’t delete any pictures until I am home on the computer.

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